How To Make Work "Optional" As An Insurance Agency Owner
Hey, I'm Erik, I help insurance agency owners convert their agency revenue into personal wealth. Building a successful agency is a grind. The demand for your time is intense. Leverage my experience to bring organization to your finances. I understand the agency model. I know the challenge of keeping all the pieces in your financial life aligned and organized. Learn more below:
Built Specifically For Agency Owners
As agency owners, we understand the importance of allocating our time and mental energy toward growing our largest asset, our business.
Leverage our Experience
We understand the agency modal as agency owners. As CFPs, we understand making strategic money decisions. We become your financial thought partner.
Increase ROT
With us by your side, helping you manage and grow your wealth outside your agency, you can maximize your Return On Time to pursue other passions that align with your values.
Here's what others are saying:
Non-compensated client testimonial; may not be representative of all client experiences; no guarantee of future performance or success.
The Process That Helps Make Work Optional For Agency Owners AND Do What They Want In Life:
Frequently Asked Questions
Not in the traditional sense, no. You hire us to deliver value. If we stop delivering value, you can end the relationship.
Yes. Many of our recommendations will impact your taxes and your estate plan. We are happy to have conversations with any and all of your professional advisors, including your insurance agent 
We do not prepare tax returns. However, we will request your returns annually to review as your return generally influences many of our recommendations.
We understand your agency finances. We can provide feedback as someone who has built, managed, and sold an agency. But our firm does not provide direct advice on managing your business finances. Sometimes our recommendations will overlap with your business finances, to which we would gladly consult with you and your CPA or CFO.
We believe the stock market rewards those who stay invested, and therefore we build portfolios that will encourage our clients to stay the course. Investment strategies start with an intended objective, and attaching purpose to your money is a main factor in where you invest it. A successful investment strategy starts and ends with discipline. We build portfolios by selecting investments that have historically outperformed in down markets while still delivering favorable returns in positive years.
As of I now, I (Erik) do! I am currently considering selling our personal lines book. We would maintain our commercial lines. I started off captive in 2001. In 2008 I left P&C for two years to focus on the financial side of the business. And then, in 2010, my business partner and I launched the independent agency.
We get paid in several ways depending on how you choose to work with us. When we directly manage investments, our compensation is based on a percentage of your account value. In our financial planning work, the cost is either a one-time planning fee and/or an ongoing monthly fee.
Plan Wisely
Case Study
Joe & Rachel
Primary Goals: Exit agency via sale (or merger) prior to age 54. Fund college tuition for daughter. Ultimately, make working optional.
The Challenge
Joe and Rachel are not really thinking much about retirement.
Not because they do not want to retire, but because life is busy and they are still young(ish).
Joe is an independent insurance agency owner, and Rachel is a registered nurse. Their work adds value to their lives and funds their passions.
Joe is diligently building his agency that he plans to sell one day. There are aspects of running an agency that he loves, but other aspects are a grind.
Rachel enjoys her job as her work is meaningful to her, but she wants more freedom over her time and is wrestling with stepping away or a career change.
Their challenge is not overcoming any financial missteps or limitations; in fact, they have been doing the right things with their money:
- Generating high six-figure incomes
- Paying down the majority of their debt
- Protecting themselves with the proper insurance
So what's the problem?
As the agency grows, Joe is being pulled in multiple directions and finds himself doing things that he no longer enjoys. As a result, he unintentionally neglects his personal finances and does not spend his time consistent with his and Rachel’s values.
Joe and Rachel have been wondering lately if they are missing something. Are they making the best decisions with their money?
The majority of their net worth is tied up in the agency, and Joe has had a growing concern about liquidity.
They have not regularly been funding their retirement accounts and other investment vehicles.
Joe has not kept up with his other investments as the agency has gotten busy.
They admit that they don’t know what they don’t know about finances.
The Next Step
Joe and Rachel are busy. Running a business and putting in 4 shifts a week at the hospital leaves them just enough time to keep up with their kids' active schedules.
They don’t have time to figure everything out on their own as they approach their next phase in life.
They want the advice of a financial expert to help them make strategic decisions with their money, including investment selections, retirement projections, and tax-saving strategies.
The results:
In partnership with their financial planner, they created a plan to address their most pressing concerns. Joe and Rachel now know how a future sale of the agency will fund their retirement.
They now have a:
- A tax-efficient investment strategy to reduce risk and improve returns
- Transparency in their investment costs
- The proper retirement account to save in
- A plan to better manage cash flow
- A plan to fun their "work optional" account
- A vision of how the future sale of the agency impacts their retirement
- Confidence that Rachel could leave her job
They onboarded an easy-to-use online personal financial website that securely helped them organize their entire financial life.
Joe and Rachel now enjoy the peace of mind that comes with having a clear plan and having regular access to a financial planner who understands their values and the financial circumstances that can help them make ongoing financial decisions.